So You Want To Be A Wise Guy... ~ October 16, 2002

Okay, I'll confess...I'm obsessed with something. Well, as obsessed as my personality gets. I've got this gung-ho attitude about wisdom. Its great stuff! I mean, just read Proverbs and you'll discover that it can save your life, give prosperity, help you endure hard times, and overcome your faults. It keeps you on the straight and narrow and it allows you to serve those around you. It can give you the vision to survive in the heartbroken world we live in and what's more, thrive in it. Who wouldn't want as much wisdom as possible?

Yesterday I kind of randomly picked up the diary of this guy who history says was the wisest man to ever exist. He lived his whole life to find out what was the purpose of existence (not an easy project), to see how the world worked and why. And amazingly, if he weren't marked as a good king of Israel, I would of called him a nihilist. "Meaningless! Meaningless!...Everything is meaningless!" Solomon looked at the world around him, saw the injustice and the futility of lives extinguished too soon, and could come to no better conclusion. In his eyes, death is the end. We can't take anything with us, even our "wisdom", so what's the point of self-indulgence or sacrifice? Or of taking tests, for that matter?

I like how he can't seem to keep falling down this slippery slope though. He keeps running into the roadblock that God is in charge. "A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without Him, who can eat or find enjoyment?" (Eccl. 2:24-25) The more I learn about the world outside the "bubble" (not just Grove City, but also the Christian heritage I've grown up in all my life), the more I learn how true this is. Mankind has no hope, he's broken and if he is all there is in this world there is no promise that we're going to get any better. The happiest unbeliever is living a lie, but they may not even know it because we are all trained to ignore the hopelessness of life. The most miserable Christian is living a lie too, because he/she has forgotten that hope within them that where they are isn't where they are going to be.

So this, then, is my conclusion to the matter. True wisdom comes from seeing the world as it is: sinful, broken, and hopeless. But it also comes from seeing how God Himself gives us the hope we need to thrive here. If He exists, and the whole Gospel is true, one day our world is not going to be like this anymore. We humans will be whole again, in our right minds and our proper place in Creation. We finally will overcome death, the very thing that makes our existence meaningless. We will have a purpose we can't forget. That's why we can go out and comfort those who mourn. That's why we don't have to be afraid of the worst stuff life can throw at us. That's why we can have joy. And that's why it is so important for those of us who know to reach out to those who don't. Christian, go live and share your hope.